A Variable Speed Control Moment Gyro (VSCMG) is a recently introduced actuator for spacecraft attitude control. As its name implies, a VSCMG is essentially a single-gimbal control moment gyro (CMG) with a flywheel allowed to have variable spin speed. Thanks to its extra degrees of freedom, a VSCMGs cluster can be used to achieve additional objectives, such as power tracking and/or singularity avoidance, as well as attitude control. In this thesis, control laws for an integrated power/attitude control system (IPACS) for a satellite using VSCMGs are introduced. The power tracking objective is achieved by storing or releasing the kinetic energy in the wheels. The proposed control algorithms perform both the attitude and power tracking goals simultaneously. This thesis also provides a singularity analysis and avoidance method using CMGs/VSCMGs. This issue is studied for both the cases of attitude tracking with and without a power tracking requirement. A null motion method to avoid singularities is presented, and a criterion is developed to determine the momentum region over which this method will successfully avoid singularities. The spacecraft angular velocity and attitude control problem using a single VSCMG is also addressed. A body-fixed axis is chosen to be perpendicular to the gimbal axis, and it is controlled to aim at an arbitrarily given inertial direction, while the spacecraft angular velocity is stabilized. Finally, an adaptive control algorithm for the spacecraft attitude tracking in case when the actuator parameters, for instance the spin axis directions, are uncertain is developed. The equations of motion in this case are fully nonlinear and represent a Multi-Input-Multi-Output (MIMO) system. The smooth projection algorithm is applied to keep the parameter estimates inside a singularity-free region. The design procedure can also be easily applied to general MIMO dynamical systems.

No description available.

This thesis presents the design of an attitude determination system for small satellites that automatically corrects for attitude drift. Existing attitude determination systems suffer from attitude drift due to the integration of noisy rate gyro sensors used to measure the change in attitude. This attitude drift leads to a gradual loss in attitude knowledge, as error between the estimated attitude and the actual attitude increases. In this thesis a Kalman filter is used to complete sensor fusion which combines sensor observations with a projected attitude based on the dynamics of the satellite. The system proposed in this thesis also utilizes a novel sensor called the stellar gyro to correct for the drift. The stellar gyro compares star field images taken at different times to determine orientation, and works in the presence of the sun and during eclipse. This device provides a relative attitude fix that can be used to update the attitude estimate provided by the Kalman filter, effectively compensating for drift. Simulink models are developed of the hardware and algorithms to model the effectiveness of the system. The Simulink models show that the attitude determination system is highly accurate, with steady state errors of less than 1 degree.

Research in Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV's) continues to push the limitations of size and weight. As technical advances have made UAV's smaller and less expensive, they have become more flexible and extensive in their roles. To continue using smaller and less expensive components while retaining and even enhancing performance requires more sophisticated processing of sensor data in order for the UAV to accurately determine its state and thereby allow the use of feedback in controlling the aircraft automatically. This work presents a three-stage state-estimation scheme for the class of UAV's know as Miniature Air Vehicles (MAV's). The first stage estimates pitch and roll, the second stage estimates heading, and the third stage produces a position estimate and an estimate of wind speed and direction. All three stages make use of the extended Kalman filter, a framework for using a system dynamic model to predict future states and to update the predictions using weighted sensor measurements as they become available, where the weighting is based on the relative uncertainty of the dynamic model and the sensors. Using the three-stage state esti-mation scheme, significant improvements in the estimation of pitch, roll and heading have been achieved in simulation and flight testing. Performance of the navigation (position and wind) stage is comparable to an existing baseline algorithms for position and wind, and shows additional promise for use in dead reckoning when GPS updates become unavailable.

Cette thèse propose différentes méthodes théoriques et numériques pour simuler à coût réduit le comportement des plasmas ou des faisceaux de particules chargées sous l’action d’un champ magnétique fort. Outre le champ magnétique externe, chaque particule est soumise à champ électromagnétique créé par les particules elles-mêmes. Dans les modèles cinétiques, les particules sont représentées par une fonction de distribution f(x,v,t) qui vérifie l’équation de Vlasov. Afin de déterminer le champ électromagnétique, cette équation est couplée aux équations de Maxwell ou de Poisson. L’aspect champ magnétique fort est alors pris en compte par un dimensionnement adéquat qui fait apparaître un paramètre de perturbation singulière 1/ε. / This thesis is devoted to the study of charged particle beams under the action of strong magnetic fields. In addition to the external magnetic field, each particle is submitted to an electromagnetic field created by the particles themselves. In kinetic models, the particles are represented by a distribution function f(x,v,t) solution of the Vlasov equation. To determine the electromagnetic field, this equation is coupled with the Maxwell equations or with the Poisson equation. The strong magnetic field assumption is translated by a scaling wich introduces a singular perturbation parameter 1/ε.

Cette thèse porte sur les équations gyro-cinétiques et traite un développement rigoureux deslimites de l'équation de Vlasov avec différents opérateurs de collision dans un champ magnétiquefort, ainsi que du développement de méthodes numériques.On commence par une étude de l'opérateur de moyenne. L'opérateur de moyenne a été développé parM. Bostan dans le cadre général d'une équation pour laquelle une partie du transport estfortement pénalisée. Puis, on applique ces résultats généraux aux deux régimes limites que nousétudions : le régime du rayon de Larmor fini et le régime centre-guide.On s'intéresse au calcul précis et explicite de la moyenne de l'opérateur de Fokker-Planck-Landau. On se place pour cela dans le cas du régime du rayon de Larmor fini. Avant de réaliserles calculs sur l'opérateur de Fokker-Planck-Landau, qui contient des convolutions et des termesde diffusion, il semble raisonnable de calculer la moyenne de l'opérateur de relaxation deBoltzmann, dont l'expression est plus simple.On se place ensuite dans le cas du régime centre-guide et on présente un schéma numérique basésur une décomposition micro-macro de la fonction de distribution des particules qui provientd'un travail en collaboration avec N. Crouseilles et M. Lemou. On obtient un schéma uniformémentconsistant avec le modèle continu, pour tout ordre du champ magnétique. Des simulationsnumériques, basées sur cette approche, ont été réalisées à l'aide d'un code de calcul 2D quel'on a développé durant cette thèse.On présente ensuite un projet réalisé dans le cadre du Cemracs 2012, consacré à la modélisationdes écoulements sanguins dans le réseau veineux cérébral. / The main subject of this thesis is the gyro-kinetic equation. We present a rigourousdeveloppement of the Vlasov equation limits with different collision operator in a strongmagnetic field and numerical methods.We start with a study of the gyro-average operator. The average operator has been introduced byM. Bostan in the case of an equation where part of the transport is highly penalised. Then weapply our results at the two approximation we study : the finite Larmor radius approximation andthe guiding-center approximation.We first focus on the precise and explicit computation of the Fokker-Planck-Landau operatoraverage in the finite Larmor radius approximation. The Fokker-Planck-Landau operator containsconvolution and diffusion terms, it is then reasonable to first compute the average of theBoltzmann relaxation operator.We then focus on the guiding-center approximation and present a numerical scheme based on amicro-macro decomposition of the particles distribution fonction which comes from a joint workwith N. Crouseilles and M. Lemou. We obtain a scheme which is uniformly consistant with thecontinuous model for any order of the magnetic field. Numerical simulation based on thisapproach are presented.The last chapter of this thesis presents a project which was realised during the Cemracs 2012concerning the modelisation of blood flow in cerebral veins.

En milieu sous-marin, les mosaïques d'images collectées par un véhicule en déplacement permettent d'obtenir des cartes visuelles d'une zone d'intérêt. La trajectoire estimée du véhicule par simple intégration des vecteurs vitesse présente une dérive qui se répercute dans la mosaïque (en particulier lorsque le véhicule recoupe sa propre trajectoire). Le travail de cette thèse a consisté à estimer de la façon la plus précise la trajectoire du véhicule à partir de mesures de cap et de vitesse et d'une séquence d'images, en tenant compte des lieux de recoupement (ou points de rendez-vous). Nous estimons dans un premier temps ces couples d'instants par appariement d'images, puis les introduisons dans l'algorithme de localisation du véhicule. Dans un deuxième temps, la mosaïque est reconstruite. La méthodologie proposée ici devrait permettre de peaufiner encore la cartographie dans la mesure où les variances des paramètres de mouvement estimés par les images seules sont disponibles. Dans ce cas, une fusion des deux trajectoires est réalisable. Si ce n'est pas le cas, la cartographie visuelle est finalement améliorée au moyen de techniques de déformation d'images.

Interferometer Fiber Optic Gyroscope (IFOG) has established as critical sensor for advance navigation systems. Sensor coil is known to be heart of IFOG. The bias drift and scale factor performance of IFOG depend on the sensor coil. The environmental perturbations like vibration, shock, temperature and magnetic field can affect the measured phase difference between the counter propagating beams, thereby introducing a bias error resulting in degradation of IFOG performance. In general these factors are both time varying and unevenly distributed throughout the coil producing a net undesirable phase shift due to variations in the optical light path, which is undistinguishable from the rotation induced signal. The development of sensor coil for high performance includes selection of optical fiber, spool material, coil winding technique and potting adhesive. In the thesis, the effects of various perturbations like temperature, vibration and magnetic field on the sensor coil are analysed, which degrades the gyro performance. The effect of temperature and vibration can be reduced by proper selection of spool material, winding method and by applying adhesive during the winding of sensor coil. The effect of magnetic field can be reduced by using the high birefringence polarization maintaining fiber with shorter beat length, shielding the sensor coil and reducing the number of twist during the winding. Design and fabrication of the sensor coil is done for control grade & navigation grade FOG with fiber length of 100 m and 1000 m respectively with the polarization maintaining fiber of two different manufacturer Fiber Core, UK and Nufern, USA selected based upon the beat length and Numerical Aperture so that sensor coil has minimum effect of magnetic field and the bending of fiber. Presently the spool material used is Aluminium alloy (HE15) for the ease of fabrication and easily availability of material. The Quadrupolar winding is done to reduce the thermal gradient effects. The indigenously developed special adhesive is applied layer by layer to reduce the environmental effects. In order to study the lifetime of sensor coil accelerated aging test (85°C, RH 85 %) for 30 days is also carried out.

Abstract This report is about the creation of a test system for development of a control system for a off the shelf RC-helicopter, which can be bought for about two thousand SEK. The test system consists of both electronics for controlling the helicopter and mechanical constrainer. The constrainer is used for mounting the helicopter so that it won´t crash.A circuit board including processor and sensors was manufactured. This was used for doing test of the different control algorithms. In this way were we able to analyze the quality of the sensors chosen, and what other sensors that could contribute to the control of the system.Basic helicopter control have been studied and presented in the report. Also different kinds of regulation algorithm were presented. These have also been implemented and tested in the test system.Experiments were made to identify how signals in the radio controller were mixed and translated before they were sent to the receiver, to be used to control the helicopter. This could later be used to translate the control signal from the regulators.Demonstrations, with the help of the test system, revealed the pros and cons of the different sensors and other hardware. Different regulation techniques were also tested and analyzed. / Bakgrund Skillnaden mellan att styra en helikopter och ett flygplan är att en helikopter hela tiden behöver generera sin egen lyftkraft för att hålla sig flygande men den kan till skillnad från ett flygplan utföra så kallad 3D flygning. Det betyder att den kan flyga uppåt, nedåt, framåt, bakåt, höger, vänster och även stå helt still i luften. Detta gör också att en helikopter är svårare att kontrollera än ett flygplan. Utvecklingen av kontrollsystem för att minska arbetsbördan för piloter av riktiga helikoptrar skedde i början av 90-talet när fly-by-wire d.v.s. elektronisk styrning, infördes i en del helikoptrar.[1] [2] Idag har de moderna helikoptrarna, speciellt inom det militära, avancerade kontrollsystem för att hjälpa piloten. [3]När det kommer till vanliga kommersiella Radiostyrda helikoptrar (RC-helikoptrar) har de oftast endast ett gir-gyro. Detta är ett hjälpmedel som gör helikoptern mindre känslig för kastvindar. Resten av styrningen sköter RC-piloten med hjälp av en radiosändare som skickar styrsignalerna till helikoptern. Genom att se hur RC-helikoptern rör sig i luften som enda återkoppling så måste RC-piloten justera dessa styrsignaler för att inte helikoptern ska krascha. Att flyga en RC-helikopter har alltid ansetts vara en svår uppgift eftersom RC-piloten hela tiden måste korrigera helikoptern. Den första svårigheten med att flyga en RC-helikopter är att hålla den stabil i luften, d.v.s. hålla den hovrande. För att lära sig detta rekommenderar nästan alla RC-flygare att man ska använda sig av en simulator som kopplas till dator. Med denna kan man övningsflyga i en datormiljö innan man försöker med en riktig RC-helikopter. Har man dock köpt en RC-helikopter för 2000 kronor vill förmodligen de flesta inte köpa en simulator för ytterligare 2000 kronor innan man kan börja flyga den. Istället vill man säkert börja flyga sin nya helikopter direkt. Det finns dyra RC-helikoptrar som har hjälpelektronik för stabilisering av helikoptern. Dessa är inget som man köper om man bara vill flyga strövis på sin fritid, eftersom priset är så högt. Det finns även elektronik som man kan koppla på sin befintliga helikopter som hjälper till med stabiliseringen, men den kostar mer än dubbelt så mycket som en ingångsmodell av en RC-helikopter. [4]Eftersom vi själva är intresserade av att lära oss att flyga så kände vi oss utmanade att göra något åt saken. Vi bestämde oss att undersöka möjligheterna att med hjälp av elektronik styra en vanlig RC-helikopter som går att köpa i handeln.Denna rapport kan vara till hjälp för ingenjörer som ska designa ett styrsystem till en radiostyrd helikopter genom att ge förståelse för de problem som kan uppstå vid denna typ av utveckling.

In this paper a new equivalent circuit is presented which describes the dynamics of a prototype micro-gyro sensor. The concept takes advantage of the principles employed in vibratory gyro sensors and the ductile attributes of GalFeNOL to target high sensitivity and shock tolerance. The sensor is designed as a tuning fork structure. A GalFeNOL patch attached to the y-z surface of the drive prong causes both prongs to bending the x-z plane (about the y axis) and a patch attached to the x-z surface of the sensing prong detects Coriolis-force induced bending in the y-z plane (about the x axis). A permanent magnet is bonded on top of each prong to give bias magnetic fields. A solenoid coil surrounding the drive prong is used to produce bending in the x-z plane of both prongs. The sensing prong is surrounded by a solenoid coil with N turns in which a voltage proportional to the time rate of change of magnetic flux is induced. The equivalent circuit enables the efficient modeling of a gyro sensor and an electromechanical behavioral simulation using the circuit simulator SPICE. The prongs are modeled as wave guiding bending beams which are coupled to the electromagnetic solenoid coil transducer. In contrast to known network approaches, the proposed equivalent circuit is the first tuning fork model, which takes full account of the fictitious force in a constant rotating frame of reference. The Coriolis force as well as the centrifugal force on a concentrated mass are considered.